Finalists!

Four Feathers Press 2023 Poetry Awards Finalists

BEST POEM IN SENSUAL SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: EROTIC POETRY – Finalists: Mani Suri "Prayer", Tanya Ko Hong "Journey", Judy Barrat "Like David", Lorelei Matsuda "O Paris", Kimberly Cobian "Bajolover"

BEST POEM IN BARDS OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: TOP 30 SO CAL POETS – Finalists: Gia Civerolo "catholic girls howl", Denise Dumars "Sharps", Lalo Kikiriki "On a street with no name", Pam Ward "Hansel and Gretel's Field Notes on Roe", Charles Harper Webb "In Line at Trader Joe's"

BEST POEM IN TRAVELING SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: TRAVEL POETRY – Finalists: Carl Stilwell AKA CaLokie "Californicatin'", Christine Jordan "Dukes", William P. Cushing "Cusquenos", Joseph Nicks "Next to Nowhere", Alicia Viguer-Espert "October's Last Facing the Pacific”

BEST POEM IN IT RAINS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: POETRY OF WEATHER – Finalists: jerry the priest "sky throwin' bullets of hail", Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal "California Street", Jackie Chou "Snowless in Los Angeles", Cls Sandoval  "Jack Parsons lives on Melrose", Raquel Reyes-Lopez "Local TV News Reporter Got the Weather Segment Wrong"

BEST POEM IN RHYTHMS OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: RHYMING POETRY - Finalists: Cls Sandoval "American Freedom", Michael G. Hickey "My Infatuation Situation", Jackie Chou "Heavenly Things", Charles Harmon "The Song of Dining at Black Angus", Gabriela Docan "An Infinity of Beauty"

BEST POEM IN HEAT OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: SUMMER POETRY – Finalists: Carl Stilwell AKA CaLokie "The Summer of Woodstock", Lawrence R Berger "Small Fires', Tim Tipton "Creature of Rooms", Matt J. McGee "Buckle Up", Dean Okamura "Playing on the shores"

BEST POEM IN VEHICLES IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: POETRY OF MOVEMENT – Finalists: Christine Jordan "Impression: Blue Buick", Ellyn Maybe "I was Driving on the 405", Dean Okamura "Turn the 1950 Oldsmobile Rocket 98 Steering Wheel", Rosie Hamilton "Homecoming", PJ Swift "My Jalopy"

BEST POEM IN EDUCATION IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: SCHOOL POETRY - Finalists: Luke Stilwell "Field Trip to Hell", Ellyn Maybe "Science Poem", Alicia Viguer-Espert "Professor X", Jeffry Michael Jensen "Bite Me Hurricane", Kelly Greene "Chalk Dust in The Laser Beam"

BEST POEM IN LEAVES OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: FALL POETRY – Finalists: PJ Swift "BNW RIP", Alicia Viguer-Espert "Changing Light", Dean Okamura "Now, what have I become?", Jeffry Michael Jensen "Calling All California Parts", Gia Civerolo "let them fall where they may"

BEST POEM IN DEAD POETS OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: MEMORIAL POETRY – Finalists: Carl Stilwell AKA CaLokie "To Rosalee", Lynne Bronstein  "Rumors About Emily", Ellyn Maybe "Clocks Written in Invisible Ink", Jim Babwe "Formal Logic", Gia Civerolo "Ode to LA Poet Wanda Coleman"

BEST POEM IN HOLIDAYS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: VACATION POETRY - Finalists: Jackie Chou "The Snow Globe", Gia Civerolo "all souls day", Carl Stilwell "Decolonize This Poem", Rosie Hamilton "Tenant's Harbour, NE", Mary Langer Thompson "The Language of My Lake"

BEST POEM IN RESOLUTIONS OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: WISH POETRY - Finalists: Carl Stilwell "Pascal and Bukowski Sneak from Snotty Sestina to Go to Santa Anita", Douglas Richardson "Convention Weekend", Ellyn Maybe "Poem for a New Year", Dean Okamura "The Phrase", Iris De Anda "Planet Earth"

Please comment below your choices amongst these finalists, and congratulations to all of the finalists, each is very deserving!

See the finalists read on December 30th between 3 and 5pm on Saturday Afternoon Poetry's Zoom channel, where the winners will be announced.